Vietnam Vet Rob Macgregor
Deminers with families they protect
Vet Gerry Lyall outlines a demining plan
Three Australian Vietnam veterans are heading up efforts to make the Cambodian countryside safe for locals to go about their daily lives. They’ve been organising the clearing of deadly land mines planted by warring regimes over three decades, and are now giving every Australian an opportunity to assist with the massive task that still remains ahead of them.
The Vietnam Veterans Mine Clearing Team (VVMCT) pulls together local Cambodians who are carefully trained as ‘Deminers’ and paid a wage to remove and disarm potentially deadly unexploded mines hidden just under the ground. The Deminers earn an average of $10 a day. The amount may sound minimal but is a healthy wage in Cambodia. To Australians, however the amount is minimal they are being urged to ‘Adopt a Deminer’ by paying his or her wages for any given period.
Ongoing efforts by the VVMCT has alreadycleared two million square metres of land but Cambodian authorities estimate that between 4 and 6 million mines remain hidden. A decade ago Cambodia had the highest rate of mine incidents in the world with casualty rates at 850 a year between 2000 and 2005. That rate has dropped significantly but the mines continue to leave their hideous legacy. There are 40,000 amputees in Cambodia and thirty per cent are children.
Locals were already clearing mines before the VVMCT became involved. The work was headed by former Khmer Rouge conscripted child soldier, Aki Ra, who now works as a Deminer. But through the involvement of the VVMCT, the locals gained access to necessary equipment such as metal detectors, much needed financial support and proper training.
VVMCT founding member and Assistant Secretary Robroy Macgregor said the team currently has a group of about thirty local Deminers who are paid less than $2 an hour risking their lives to save others.
“We are giving everyone a chance to be involved in this humanitarian effort for a small investment,” Mr Macgregor said. “By adopting a Deminer people can help pay their wages for a given period”.
The VVMCT was established in 2008 when Vietnam Veterans Robroy Macgregor (aka Mac) and Gerald Lyall OAM (aka Gerry) joined Tony ‘Bomber’ Bower-Miles who had been involved in mine clearing since 2003.
Further details of the work of the VVMCT can be found on facebook or at:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/glaust/adopt-one.htm
